1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a color sensor, and, more specifically to a color sensor linked to a speaker device, haptic display, and/or visual display, audibly, tactilely, and/or visually identifying the color detected by the color sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Determining the true color of an object, without the subjectivity and error of an individual can be difficult as many people see and interpret colors differently. For a blind person or a person with true color blindness (seeing only values, but no hues), the task is impossible. Other conditions, such as red-green color blindness, also make the task of proper color identification difficult. Further, the color that any given object may appear can change based on various lighting situations, depending on the time of day or weather conditions if the object is in natural light, or if the object is viewed in a room with incandescent or fluorescent lighting. Further, the color of the object may appear to change depending upon the color of other objects in the environment, and the reflected light of such an object influencing the color of another object. As such, the viewing of color can be very subjective, and often confusing.
In such a circumstance where one color is difficult to identify, the task of identifying multiple colors and then determining the aesthetic appeal of their use in combination with each other is nearly impossible. For individuals with color blindness, or for people who need to match colors in a variety of lighting conditions, such as decorators, a tool that could aid in the color determining and/or matching process could be a valuable asset.
Many devices and arrangements for color analysis are known, such as in the photographic industry and particularly for color printing and color matching in manufacturing. However, these devices must be capable of measurement of a continuum of color and are usually complicated, bulky, expensive and difficult to calibrate. Therefore such devices are generally unsuitable for the applications noted above and many others.